Barbara A. Lee

Q4. (2 Corinthians 3:6a) Why is a Christian’s spiritual health so closely related to his or her involvement in ministry? As I said before it is the Holy Spirit that God uses to speak to us…without the Spirit we have NO communication with God… What are the consequences of dropping out of church – for the believer? We miss out on the FELLOWSHIP with other Christians. As a Christian walks, many times with other believers, we tend to LISTEN more effectively to the Holy Spirit. For Christ’s Kingdom? We need Jesus in our lives always..therefore we must fellowship with other believers to come together in Christ for His kingdom…

Q2. (2 Corinthians 3:2-3) In what sense are we “living letters”? We are “Living letters” by the way we carry ourselves. If we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts we will show that we are of Christ. If we don’t have the Spirit in our hearts then we are just pretending to be believers. God knows what is in our hearts and he will rebuke you if you are a False Christian… In what way can people “read us”? There are a lot of people who KNOW we are in Christ or have the Holy Spirit in us. They sence whether we are good or bad Christians… Why is it so important to be authentic, not phony, in our lives? My moto has always been “Walk the Talk”. If you are a TRUE Christian it will show in your daily life. If you say you are going to do something then you must do it… What happens when people “read” something in you that they admire and mention it to you? How might you respond appropriately? “I do all things through Christ which strengthens me…” I give all the credit to my Lord Jesus Christ.

Q1. (2 Corinthians 2:14-16a) In what sense is knowing God fragrant to people who are open to God? It is the SWEET smell or aroma that we smell when we are around other Christians that the Holy Spirit is there too. If we don’t smell that sweet aroma then we are to flee. In what way is this fragrance repugnant to people who are closed to God? They don’t want to “smell” or hear the word of Christ…We must be BOLD and STAND our ground…We must preach the word of Jesus even though we get shoved aside by many non=believers… Have you suppressed your “fragrance” because some people are allergic to Christian perfume? No!! I tend to tell everyone I meet about the Gospel of Jesus… If so, how can you regain the fragrance of Christ’s gospel? Get in a Church, be with other Christians and you will begin to walk the talk...

Q3. (2 Corinthians 3:4-6) What is the balance between the need for training in ministry (either in the local church or in schools) and personal submission to the Spirit of God? We need the training that the seminaries or Bible colleges offer, but we also need the personal submission to the Spirit of God…That being said we need a balance between both…For if we have on and not the other we become unballenced in our walk with Jesus. Are you able to “listen to the Spirit’s voice” in your own life? Most of the time… Why would this ability be so important in being a competent minister? Because it is through the Holy Spirit that God is communicating with us…And believe me when I say it is hard to do because we are HUMAN and we do slip sometimes.

Q4. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11) How does Satan take advantage of our unforgiveness? Satan will use any means to get us to slide in our faith in Jesus, and this is just one of the many footholds he has to use…if we cannot forgive others then He (Jesus and God) will not forgive us… What are the symptoms in our own heart of unforgiveness? We tend to get bitter…it festers in our heart so that we want to GET EVEN with the person that wronged us…instead we are to let it go, the Lord will deal with the person Himself in His time… According to Matthew 6:14-15, how does holding unforgiveness hurt our spiritual lives? If we don’t forgive people then God will not forgive us… What would you have to do to really let go of your resentment and give it to God? Just forgive and forget..Let the Lord deal with any problem in His own way and in His time…I learned this lesson a long time ago when someone had wronged me and I forgave him, God allowed him/her to be punished in a more severe way than I ever could…

Q4. (2 Corinthians 2:10-11) How does Satan take advantage of our unforgiveness? Satan will use any means to get us to slide in our faith in Jesus, and this is just one of the many footholds he has to use…if we cannot forgive others then He (Jesus and God) will not forgive us… What are the symptoms in our own heart of unforgiveness? We tend to get bitter…it festers in our heart so that we want to GET EVEN with the person that wronged us…instead we are to let it go, the Lord will deal with the person Himself in His time… According to Matthew 6:14-15, how does holding unforgiveness hurt our spiritual lives? If we don’t forgive people then God will not forgive us… What would you have to do to really let go of your resentment and give it to God? Just forgive and forget..Let the Lord deal with any problem in His own way and in His time…I learned this lesson a long time ago when someone had wronged me and I forgave him, God allowed him/her to be punished in a more severe way than I ever could…

Q3. (2 Corinthians 2:9) How does obedience to self-serving leaders hurt the church? Self-serving leadership is tends to put the leaders at the top…This can hurt the church because it tends to send a message of “I am the Leader” of this church when he isn’t at all…Jesus Christ is the leader of the church, therefore he becomes self-serving, meaning serving himself not the people of the church… Are you obedient to those whom God has placed over you in the Lord? Why or why not? I am obedient to one person, My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ…That being said, I am obedient to the leadership of the church, because God tells me I must be…Not to a self-serving leadership, but to a leadership that puts the people’s needs first… What is the relationship between obedience and church unity? The relationship between obedience and the church is Jesus Christ…If the leadership has the Lord Jesus In their heart then there won’t be any discord between the members and the leadership…

Q2. (2 Corinthians 1:24) What does it mean to “lord it over” someone? “To lord it over” means to make one feel that you have dominion over them. They must do what you tell them to do, or you will hand out severe punishment… What is the balance between (1) good, strong, leadership, (2) micromanaging, and (3) a complete laissez-faire approach to leadership? The balance in a good, strong leadership lets people know who is in charge, not in a bullish way, but in a good, conscious way; whereas micromanaging is too stong and bullish of a way, and a complete laissez=faire is to weak of a management…. What are the dangers of an authoritative leadership style? The dangers of an “Authoritative” leadership style is that you tend to put yourself above others…You can lose good workers in this kind of leadership… What are the dangers of a weak leadership style? In just the opposite way of “Authoritative” leadership, the weak leadership is one who doesn’t care what happens as long as it doesn’t come back and bite them in the butt. They will lose many workers in this kind of leadership roll also…

Q1. (2 Corinthians 1:21b-22) According to this verse, what does the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives signify? The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, if we believe in the Holy Spirit, signifies that we are true Christians, that we are marked as God’s property. We are guaranteed Eternal Life. We are established, meaning that we are firmly founded in Christ… How does the spirit unite us with God? The Spirit unites us with God in many different ways…By uniting us with God through Jesus, the Holy Spirit guarantees our place in Heaven to be eternal…We are established by the spirit, meaning we are founded on Christ… (2 Corinthians 2:9) What is the promise of future blessing inherent in the Spirit’s presence? The promise of future blessing is that we have an established place in eternal life with Jesus...If we believe that Jesus is the Living Son of God we have a place in heaven…

Q3. (2 Corinthians 1:10-11) Why does Paul ask people to pray for him? It is not a known fact why, but my belief is that if we pray for what we need the Lord will answer our prayers. Jesus, Himself prayed to His Father… How do the prayers of others have an effect? When we pray in groups we are basically saying that we, as a group, believe that God will answer our prayers. Jesus asked the multitude to pray for Him…If my Lord can ask for the multitude to pray for Him, then I, as a Christian, should have the same belief… What happened in your life that has helped you enter into a ministry of intercessory prayer? A combination of things, really. First, I am a recovering alcoholic and the temptation to go back to drinking has been present in my life all the time…the trials and tribulations of the world today is enough…But for me it was when I went from a healthy walker, two to three miles a day, to a wheelchair in a matter of months…We could not find out what happened…we took all kinds of tests…nothing would show up..they thought it was my hips…took cortisone shots and therepy…NOTHING!!! Finally one day after about 6 months of going to doctor after doctor, my regular doctor sent me to a neck and spine specialist…He did surgery on my neck and I can walk now…I walk with a walker because my equilibrium is still off. But I can walk…Thank you Jesus. I learned a lot about prayers during this time, and about three weeks after that my father passed away…That was a shock to me, cause I thought my dad would live to be at least 95…

Q2. (2 Corinthians 1:9-10) How does facing a harrowing crisis help us grow in the Lord? Going through a crisis can make or break us…If we have the love of Jesus, it can make us stronger if we rely on that love…If we don’t have this love of Jesus, we will surely perish or become so despondent that we will wish we were dead. How has a crisis helped your spiritual life? My belief in Christ has made me stronger during a crisis…it has made me seek Jesus more and know that His help is only a prayer away… What is the value of learning not to rely on ourselves? People, who rely on themselves to get out of a particular problem, tend to get bitter…”Oh woe is me?” If they were to rely on Jesus then they have a friend to help them out… What does this do to our pride? For those who have no faith in Jesus, it tends to hurt them…They think, “I am macho….I can handle anything…” then they find out how wrong they are… On the other hand, the ones who have faith that Jesus will see them through any problem, come out ahead…They know that Jesus will help them through whatever it is that bothers them…

Q1. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7) What kind of comfort do you receive from your faith in God? I know that my God is my comforter…If I am troubled about something, I go to Him in prayer and ask Him to help me find a solution to this problem. I know that without Christ I am nothing… From your personal daily relationship with God? I know that God is with me ALWAYS! I seek His presence morning, noon, and night…I have a personal relationship with Him, and so can you… How might you share the blessing of this kind of comfort with a friend or relative who is currently suffering? We can show them this comfort by being there for them…By showing them that God is always with us, by the way that we act…By showing that LOVE of Christ. What words of comfort can you bring to others? We can show the THE WORD…The Bible…And tell them that while they go through tough times Jesus is always with them…